At Night
by Distant Storm
Summary: SetoxTea One-Shot! When she was younger she didn't sleep at her own house at night. Now, five years later, half an hour of unlikely conversation makes her realize something. Something she needs.


Disclaimer: I was inspired by a movie, called _Love and Basketball_ to write this one-shot. ANYWHO, I don't own Yugioh, or the movie mentioned before.

YES, It is AZURESHIPPING!

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo_

_Five Years Ago_

"IS THIS WHAT OUR MARRIAGE IS WORTH? YOU TO GO AROUND AND JUSTUGHH!"

"YOU KNOW THAT ISN'T TRUE! HOW WOULD YOU KNOW? YOU'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE WITH EVERY MAN IN TOWN!"

"RICHARD! DO YOU EVEN CARE? YOU'RE NEVER AROUND, AND WHEN YOU ARE, YOU NEVER SEEM TO HAVE TIME FOR ME! DO YOU THINK THAT THAT'S FAIR TO ME? I DON'T!"

Meanwhile, in another room, a thirteen year old Tea Gardner put down her diary and looked at the clock. One thirty, am. She pulled off the covers that had been over her legs and swung her legs off the edge of the bed. The baby blue pyjamas included her tank top and a pair of shorts. Lucky for her, it was summer.

"YOU JUST MARRIED ME FOR MONEY! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO SCREW THE NEIGHBOROH WAIT. HIS WIFE IS DEAD!"

"ARE YOU THREATENING ME?"

The brunette opened her window. The house was on a hill. She opened her window, and slipped out onto their 'perfect' lawn. The next house was about pretty close. Making her way through the starry night, she made her way to a fence, with a box on it. Pressing the five number combination, she opened the gate. There, in front of her, was a window. Peering in silently, she noticed the shape of a boy. Luckily, he was alone and laying in his bed.

Rap! Rap! Rap!

He made his way to the window, glaring until he saw the figure. Then he opened the window, allowing her to enter. Neither of them spoke, he just climbed back into his bed, throwing two pillows and a few blankets onto the floor. She picked them up, arranging them into a bed-like format and closed her eyes. It was always quiet there. Only at night.

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo_

Her sapphire eyes opened to find light streaming down on her. One of those dreams again. Well, more like a flashback. She quickly got up, showered and dressed.

Things had changed not long after that. Her father had moved out, leaving it just her mother and her. Now, her mother was living off _her_ child support paychecks. It provided enough for their lives and everything they needed, yes, but she still didn't find her mother's lack of employment right in any way.

She worked at a local bar. Yes, a bar. Every night that it was open, 5-to-11pm Monday through Thursday, and 7pm-to-1am Friday and Saturday. She was a bartender. Who made good money. More than those child support checks did. This money went to her dream.

Not her mother's.

Her mother wanted her to dance. Every Saturday, she'd attend a dance lesson, for something she already knew how to do. Not that she didn't love to dance, but she knew she was bound to get kicked out for incorporating martial arts into her moves. No one knew that the cheerleader knew martial arts, unless they messed with her. Of course the whole cheerleader attitude was her mother's deal, too.

Tea wanted to open a bar which she owned and operated, as well as performed and tended bar. Of course, she was technically serving drinks underage, meaning that she really shouldn't be allowed to tend bar until she would be old enough to drink personally, but some rules weren't going to be followed. People could get over it, couldn't they?

The bar was called _In The Dark_, and it was popular for it's cooking as well as it's beautiful female bartenders. Tea was the youngest there, though she tended bar with what seemed like more elegance and speed than anyone else. She acted like the most experienced. Which, in a way, she was. She had been doing such jobs since she was about eleven, and her parents would entertain. That however now had shrunk to her mother's company only.

"Can I get a Bahama Mama?"

"Yeah." She turned to the shelf behind her, gathering the necessary ingredients.

"Can you make that for ten?" The man asked. She nodded briskly, not bothering to look behind her or count. She knew that she had the nine extra cups already, without counting. She had the drinks finished in about a minute and forty seconds. The man threw a fifty at her. She made good tips here, seeing as this place was in the part of town where many rich people visited. Standing in the white blouse and black dress pants, she looked around the bar. There was people in for a business dinner. At the moment, the busboy was clearing their plates and the ten men who she had just received their drinks had begun to drink them.

She knew who the boy was at the head of the table. It was Seto Kaiba. Memories of him were both good and bad. Like in her dream, he had always been kind to her. But that was until he took control of his step father's company. That was when any past he had shared with her had vaporized completely. In a way, he was the cause of her to become closer to Yugi and the rest of the gang.

When she had actually been in the same room with him after the time gap, they were both sixteen, and she sensed a cold aurora coming from him. Even though she may have ripped him numerous new ones, she still had a certain respect for him, for he had dealt with hard times like she had.

Tonight, seeing as the men had paid way too much money to keep the place open, she would work until the men had finished their negotiations. And that had led them into about two am. The man holding the dinner, of course, was Seto Kaiba. Wasn't it always him?

"Excuse me," He asked, approaching the bar, "Can I get a shot of rum with Coke?" She noticed he sounded tired and turned around to face him. "G-Gardner?" A devilish and evil smirk played on his face. "Aren't you a little young?"

"You're the one asking for the alcohol. I don't drink it, I just serve it." She made his drink quick and slid it over to him.

"So you're the one who made those drinks so fast that it made the server's head spin?" The girl nodded to his comment. "Do you do this often?" He asked now. His voice was softer than usual.

"Monday thru Saturday Night. I make good money."

"I thought your parents were rich."

"They divorced." Kaiba looked at her, slightly surprised. "Yeah, if you didn't act like such a bastard that one night I came to your window, you'd actually know that I came to get away from them. They were throwing things at each other."

"Is that why there's a blood stain on the window pane?" He asked, now interested.

"He threw a glass, and I took the blow because they both were acting drunk." She shrugged. "Neither one possessed any kind of aim." A small chuckle escaped her lips.

"How can you laugh about that?"

"I was the one who tended bar for them when they had that party. So really, I just set myself up." She twisted the small coke bottle's cap open, and took a swig of it. "You'd be surprised how much of me is an act."

"Oh really?" He still couldn't figure out why they were having a conversation.

"First of all, that cheerleader attitude." She looked into his eyes. "I'd ditch it if it wasn't for my mother." For some reason, she felt compelled to explain things to him. She met him when she was eleven, when she saw him move in, and Gosaboro had made him come to a little party. They were the only two kids there, as Mokuba wasn't expected to go anywhere. He wasn't the aire to the fortune. And the two of them had been the only two sober ones at that party. "Then there's the dancing thing."

"I thought you wanted to dance." He said. "Yugi can't seem to shut up about it."

"So, Yugi can think what he wants. I want to open a bar and be the one to train the bartenders."

"So you want a whole Cayote Ugly thing going on?"

"Kind of." She laughed, happily, causing a small smile to grace the CEO's face. "Is that the alcohol being sociable or are you actually being friendly at this hour of night?"

"Not sure." Tea looked at the other workers. It was her turn to leave first tonight, seeing as she was the only one of the crew besides the chef to be working late tomarrow, which was Friday. Kaiba finished his drink. Apparently he had a high alcohol tolerance. He slid her the ten dollar bill.

She shoved it back at him. "It's on the house for an old friend."

"We aren't friends."

"We were."

"Whatever." Tea watched him take the money and walk to the door. The bell jingled slightly as the door opened, letting in the cool spring air. "Well?"

"Well what?" She looked at him. What in the name of the blue eyes white dragon was he talking about?

"Are you coming?" She looked at him, nodding slowly. Then, she opened the door leading from behind the bar and walked to the door, and under the arm of her ride. He released the door and let the bells jingle violently in his wake.

The car ride was silent. She kept her mouth shut. To both, it was like living a memory.

"It's almost De Ja Vu." Kaiba nodded. This was the first thing she'd said, and they were on their street.

"Could be worse." He said then looked at her. They had stopped in front of her home. "Goodnight."

"G'Night." Tea got out and watched him pull thru the gates next door. "Thanks."

When Tea got into her house, her mom had left a note.

"SURE MA!" Tea yelled to no one in particular, "JUST GO OUT ALL NIGHT WITH SOME NEW MAN! YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN DAD!" In all of her rage, she took on her father's Spanish accent.

She then went into her bedroom and sat down on the bed, pulling on her pyjamas. They were black silk pants and a spaghetti strap tank, with lacy straps. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she looked to her right, and out the window. The fence was gone now, and she had a clear view of Seto Kaiba through his bedroom window. She caught his glance for a moment, and then, found herself faced with a decision.

Would she stay home, or go over to Kaiba's and possibly face rejection?

Well, common sense won.

If you could call it that.

Easing herself out of the window, she shut it behind her and ran across the side of the two yards. He had turned off his light only a moment ago. She swallowed and brought her hand to the glass window.

Rap! Rap! Rap!

Kaiba's head shot up. He could've sworn that it wasn't a dream, that he had heard her knock on his window. It was doubtful, after what happened tonight. He'd told her that they weren't...

Rap! Rap! Rap!

He froze.

"Seto, are you there?" Her voice called, just a whisper through the window's thick glass. She hadn't called him that since they were thirteen and she'd sleep on his floor. So, to confirm his suspicions on whether he was either going crazy or she was at the window, he got up and opened the window.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"What's wrong tonight? And how come you just randomly came here? You have Yugi and the mutt."

She shook her head. "I don't care. Tonight told me something. I don't need them. I don't need to think about tomorrow. I need you. Now."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"So tomorrow, when I deny that anything happened and humiliate all of those losers, you won't try to lay a guilt trip?"

"No. Just at night."

"Just at night, that sounds like a worthy proposition."

"Will you let me in then?"

"I wasn't going to let you leave." As he let her in he whispered, "Either way."

_xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo_

_What did you think? Leave me a review!_


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